Places to visit in Darjeeling

The name Darjeelingcomes from the Tibetan word dorje, meaning the thunderbolt sceptre of the Hindu diety Indra, and ling, a place or land. Darjeeling is a town and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalaya at an elevation of 6,700 ft (2,042.2 m). It is noted for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site. Darjeeling is the headquarters of Darjeeling district which has a partially autonomous status within the state of West Bengal. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway connects the town with the plains and has one of the few steam locomotives still in service in India. The varied culture of the town reflects its diverse demographic milieu consisting of Nepalis, Bhutia, Lepcha and other mainland Indian ethno-linguistic groups.

Tiger Hill is located in Darjeeling, in the Indian State of West Bengal, and is the summit of Ghoom, the highest railway station in the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is famous for its panoramic view of Mount Everest (8,848 m) and Mt. Kangchenjunga(8,586 m) together. It is 11 km from the town of Darjeeling and can be reached either by jeep or by foot through Chowrasta, Alubari (incidentally the oldest tea plantation in Darjeeling) or Jorebangla and then climbing up the incline to the summit. The first rays of the sun shoot ahead and shed light on the twin peaks of Kangchenjunga painting it pink and then bathing it in a beautiful orange colour.

(2) Ghoom Monastery

Ghum Monastery or Ghoom Monastery is the popular name of Yiga Choeling Monastery located at Ghum at an elevation of 8,000ft, 8 km from Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal, India. The monastery follows the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. There is a 15ft high statue of “Maitreya Buddha” (Coming Buddha) in the monastery. It contains images of Buddha’s disciples, Chenrezi and Chongapa.
(3) Batasia Loop:

The Batasia Loop is a spiral railway created to lower the gradient of ascent of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. At this point, the track spirals around over itself through a tunnel and over a hilltop. It was commissioned in 1919.

(4) Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park

Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (also called the Darjeeling Zoo) is a 67.56 acre (27.3 hac) zoo in the town of Darjeeling. The zoo was opened in 1958, and an average elevation of 7,000 feet (2,134 m), is the largest high altitude zoo in India. The park is named after Padmaja Naidu (1900–1975), daughter of Sarojini Naidu.

(5) Himalayan Mountaineering Institute

The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) was established in Darjeeling, India on November 4, 1954 to encourage mountaineering as an organized sport in India. Tenzing Norgay was the first director of field training for HMI.

(6) Japanese Temple

Darjeeling Peace Pagoda is one of the Peace Pagodas designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds to help unite them in their search for world peace. The foundation stone of the pagoda was laid on 3 November 1972 by Nichidatsu Fujii, and was inaugurated on 1 November 1992. The pagoda was designed by M. Ohka, and it took 36 months for constructing it. The height of the pagoda is 28.5m (94ft) and diameter is 23m (75ft).

(7)Tenzing Rock:

It’s a 30 m high rock – tribute to Sherpa Tenzing Norgey who first conquers Mt Everest with A. Hillary. The rock maintained by HMI. You can learn rock climbing with it by Rs. 50/-.

(8) Tibetan Refugee self-help Center

The Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Center was started on October 2, 1959. Following the dramatic escape of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during that period of mayhem, thousands of our fellow countrymen, leaving hearth and home, fled into neighboring countries so they could live as free human beings.

(9) Rope way

The Darjeeling Rope way is a rope way in the town of Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. The rope way used to be a popular tourist destination in the town. It consisted of sixteen cars and plied between the “North Point” in the town of Darjeeling and Singla on the banks of the Ramman river. The journey on the rope way offered beautiful views of the hills and the valleys around Darjeeling.

(10) Mahakal Temple

Observatory Hill is a hill near Chowrasta square, or The Mall as it is popularly known, in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Magnificent views of snow-clad peaks, including Mount Kanchenjunga, are visible from the Observatory Hill. The Bhutia Busty monastery was originally located here. Now the hill has the temple of Mahakal.